Community Voice Clackmannanshire - Preventing Homelessness

About this fund

Clackmannanshire's Transformation Space is a partnership between local residents, Clackmannanshire Council and funding partners. Money from the Council will be pooled with external funding to create a new resource to support projects and initiatives which address issues affecting those who live and work in Clackmannanshire. This represents a radical shift towards a preventative and relational model of public services, seeking to support work which provides early intervention for issues in new, collaborative ways.

Residents of Clackmannanshire have gathered to form Community Voice, a group that represents the experience and expertise of those living in the area. As a small sub-group, we have worked together with Foundation Scotland, bringing our own experiences, along with stories from others living in the county, to bring some clarity and local context to the challenge this fund aims to tackle. Not to try and design a fix but to describe the best problems to solve. Our aim is to inspire, encourage and invite others to develop ideas for new approaches and services that could contribute to the prevention of homelessness.

Grant size

Community Voice has £200,000 to distribute in ways they see as appropriate. You can apply for a small grant (up to £10,000) or a larger amount (£10,000 or above). Your project may be about testing an idea or scaling existing work. Grants can also be multi-year up to a maximum of three years.

Purpose of this fund

Around one person in every 100 in Clackmannanshire can be described as homeless and the challenge is growing. This is the second highest regional rate in Scotland. We feel that solutions are often focused on the visible aspects of precarious housing. Most housing services exist for people who are at immediate risk or have become homeless. And, as Crisis put it, while these are vital and valuable…"they don’t prevent the flow of people into the homelessness system in the first place." That's what this fund is all about - preventing people from joining that flow, intervening at the earliest possible stage. Moving our efforts from the more visible impacts to the less visible causes and factors that can lead to risk of homelessness. 

What we know
The Community Voice Group set out to paint a picture of what's happening in Clackmannanshire today, based on our own experience and here's what we learned from each other: 

• The data collected on why people become homeless is incomplete, but the most common reason reported by Clackmannanshire Council is relationship breakdown.
• Vulnerable young people, such as those leaving care experience or facing exclusion from school, are poorly informed about their housing options and can quite quickly reach crisis point. They have little support into adulthood.
• The growing size of the private rental market means that a large and increasing group of people - even those who might appear to be financially secure - is potentially at risk of landlords needing to change their housing situation at short notice. This can have a profound impact on mental health and relationships.
• People who are not present (such as in hospital, in prison, in temporary care) might suffer due to lack of housing advocacy
• New arrivals into the county are adding more pressure into an already-pressured system.
• The cost of living crisis and a lack of job opportunities can contribute to the risks of homelessness.
• Young people who experience domestic violence in the home have inadequate support and can repeat behaviours that have been normalised.
• Neighbourhood disputes can lead to some families needing to move but this can lead to homelessness.
• Older people experiencing fuel poverty and cost of living challenges may be hidden from the homelessness data but are, nonetheless, at risk.

A vision to work towards
As a group, we've also imagined an alternative future for Clackmannanshire, one in which people rarely reach the point of being at risk of becoming homeless. We've described below what Clackmannanshire would need to look and feel like to achieve this. These aren't suggested solutions, they're eventual outcomes that we're hoping can emerge from the work we choose to fund:

In a future Clackmannanshire, free of homelessness, people feel respected. There is no longer stigma associated with housing status and there's an acceptance and understanding of everyone's circumstances. 

The Department for Housing has become part of the Department for Successful Living with a mission to 'set people up for success'. A focus on learning how to live respectfully with others and being a good neighbour (whether we're a home-owner or tenant) starts at school and continues through life's transitions.

Young people now apply their new budgeting and civil society skills when they first start living independently, supported by a multi-service team, confident that their questions will be answered with good quality, useful and meaningful responses. A secure home is now recognised as the foundation block on which all other services are built.

The 'Ask and Act' law passed in 2025 means that everybody in a public facing/public service role is trained to know the best questions to ask about housing and the best places to signpost people to.

We have known for some time that better information, provided at the right time, can make it less likely that people will become confused, angry or frustrated about a service. In our future Clackmannanshire, data around housing is more meaningful and transparent, ensuring that people are better informed about their options and their rights, reducing misconceptions about housing.

Collecting better data means that everyone is accounted for and outcomes are better. As a result of this new approach, we see very few abandoned buildings and it's clear why they are temporarily empty. Housing is good quality - good for people and planet. We notice more inter-generational living and being, more non-traditional types of housing. Everyone who wants one, has a roof over their head. We see more shared community spaces, people take pride in their area, fostering calmer and happier places, and good community spirit. Greenspace is prioritised and valued.

Since the Department for Successful Living is a partnership between the Third sector, Clackmannanshire Council, Health, Planning and more, it doesn't matter where you live in the county, public transport enables you to go where you want and need to go. It’s affordable and operates throughout the day and night.

As a result, Clackmannanshire is now seen as one of the most popular regions to live in Scotland. Its focus on developing and maintaining important relationships, neighbourhood connections, community participation, equity and inclusion means that people can face up to life's many other challenges, knowing that they have a secure and safe home from which to do so.

Who can apply?

The Community Voice Group wants to fund projects that contribute to the deep work of finding and tackling root causes - preventing or intervening in situations that can increase the risk of people of becoming homeless. We understand that there will be different ways to approach this, not a single solution, so if you have an idea that addresses any of the many drivers of homelessness, please consider applying. 

You may find the following reports useful for background: Cities Ending Homelessness by the Homeless World Cup and 75 ways to prevent homelessness by Crisis.

Funding criteria 
You can apply for a small grant  (up to £10,000) or a larger amount (£10,000 or above). Your project may be about testing an idea or scaling existing work. Grants can also be multi-year, up to a maximum of three years.

The grant you are applying for may cover the full cost of the project or just part of it. If you're only asking for part of the costs, please indicate if the other funding is in place or where you plan for it to come from.  We consider it essential that people with experience of precarious housing or homelessness participate in your work in some way so please be sure to tell us about this aspect of your project in your proposal.

 The Community Voice Group will prioritise proposals where consideration has also been given to one or more of the following:

• Local capacity building and collaboration: How you will work in partnership with other organisations, groups or agencies that can add value to the project and really help it make a difference? (They may be voluntary, private, or public sector groups or agencies, at a regional or national level).
• Supporting the local economy: Local suppliers will be used to provide goods and services, where appropriate. ‘Local’ will vary depending on the nature and availability of the item/service in question.
• Care for our environment: Minimising the environmental impact or 'carbon footprint' of the project. What steps are you taking to address this?  

Timescales
Please submit your completed application by Monday 1st September 2025. We aim to make funding decisions within 6 weeks of this date.

What can’t be funded?

Information on what the fund cannot support is provided here. 

How are decisions made?

Decisions about how the funding is distributed will be made by the Community Voice residents group. 

You can read more about how funding decisions are made.